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Show i ,, . FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES - " , WNTJ Service gaunt, unkempt man, young but haggard, dressed In a shabby uniform. uni-form. "Good evenin', marm," he said awkwardly, taking off his frayed cap, "sorry If ah frightened you. Don't need a man, do you?" "Good gracious," exclaimed Anne, "I don't know. What kind of a man? What do you mean?" "Well, ah meant my kind of a man," the Intruder explained hopefully. hope-fully. "Ah ben lookin' for work quite a spell. But ah can't seem to find none. 'Pears like the fellers that stayed to home while we-all was to war collared all the Jobs. Ah's plumb broke." "Can you drive a car?" asked Anne without circumlocution. The haggard hag-gard veteran grinned. "Well, ah hain't had much experience expe-rience with Rolls-Royces and them, lady, but a small car " "It Is a small car," said Anne with surprising suddenness. "Are you willing to wash windows and "Well, Ah Meant My Kind of a Man," the Intruder Explained Hopefully. CHAPTER X , soU-mnly swear that I Import and dofond the : of the States 'dfuoniies, foreign and do-" do-" i will hoar true faith iljnc to the same; that I v ''oWlsatlon freely, without ; ri'servatlon or purpose !.; . ami that I will well and V.y 'discharge the duties of which I am about to eu-:i; eu-:i; ! ;.'i,fll me God." ' fsclnj the Vice President, 'Mfs to the senate chain-Vbesule chain-Vbesule Senator Brown, - sj i,e words, a phrase at a ;.tfr Mr, Hammel. Anne, slt-r. slt-r. senators' gallery, her cold " " eienched tightly lu her lap, - 2 chills of excitement creeping " 4u her spine and stabbing ' - t it her heart, looked at hiin -sty eyes. 'a the opening day of con- .'si Neal had repeated the office administered to a new :.j and then, literally, had 3 seat. ' : bad not been to the Cap--.i is she had visited it, years I on her honeymoon journey ? ! Mn;ton. She confronted the .-$ of the senators' gallery " fjalms. But he was strug- iritn a persistent mob which dving to get past him, and : even his massive bulk and aamier could not entirely i; x Conrad?" he snarled, peer- raerwith suspicious, bulging " Senator Conrad's wife? Say, . ;)a't go down any more. lie's Rewires in there already." - i-f was a titter of derision rier.and Anne felt her cheeks m; hot, ;dl try to get some one to j me," she said with a com-" com-" :?sMch she was very far from -it won't be very hard," a 2 ; roice boomed behind her ; -ming suddenly, she almost - -i into Mrs. Hammel. "Come :: with me, my dear. Delight-bare Delight-bare you. You know Mrs. :s, don't you the speaker's " -rou and Mrs. Standish are . i already, of course. Now ;:ght down there on the left :ot In the front row. Those ; e seats reserved for Mrs. But the ones directly be- ig, but placid, Mrs. Ham-. Ham-. 'te her way Into the gallery. queezed behind her and her languished companions, edged ie crowded steps to the des- i places, and settled down i about her. snators' gallery was already l:-to the last row, except for 3ocupied seats which were : off for Mrs. Shaw, the 3t's wife. All the galleries "-rowded, and the one above ; 'Clt back of the rostrum, the t'sllery, was seething, snate chamber, Anne thought, i resumed her contemplation ; was strangely unimpressive 'Important an apartment. It -"ab, dingy, close. The sena-ere sena-ere beginning to come in -not very Impressive, either I as disappointed. Many of wre bald; nearly all of them My; some were very lean or overweight. One, dressed ; Alness Informality, a dark ':'Jn in his buttonhole, was superfluously striking atti-' atti-' His roving eyes caught and rested for a moment ;rface; then he bowed slightly. quite sure she had not met tshe returned the salutation, at herself for blushing, and ';0us that Mrs. Standish, whom J8 seemed to escape, was H her. Jtr Lassiter," this lady re-p re-p her sweet voice a trifle dry, eau Erummell of the senate. "aMhe Lovelace. I believe ; w Clarence Hathaway? Well, g the same type." f W!s grateful for the rap of 'ce President's gavel. The offered prayer. Anne, Neal, was experiencing a ' emotion than Interest; she Hembering, poignantly, the aon j0ined the church, the y to her faith that she had t "re the assembled congre-. congre-. n e bare little building ,4 s slender spire pointing ' oath green hllls belllnd lt-ej lt-ej jh that Neal was taking S5Cr ller no less solemn, no ea did he, she wondered, .j same way about It? She , ' Prayerfully, that he did. i, ' events, he had not forgot- L. n, this great and pregnant h hi, Ms llfe- He had hardly i J seat when he turned, gallery with his keen tVthSmiled as he found her ; :;, "e "Pression of love and "C; lokprt face- I,,or a moment l,st 3 fu" at each other ; Anne .."""Posure returning, her ear,nS- She was able to satUlled. he nodded and looked away again, eivng hIa ,llullvIae(, nt. tontlon to tho business of the day This did not last long. The Vieo I residents gavel descended. The crowd began to stream out. Anne was conscious that Mrs. Hummel was speaking to her. "You'll come to the house, tomorrow, to-morrow, of course, and hear the 1 resident read his message?" ''Oh, of course I I wouldn't miss It for anything 1" As a matter of fact, she had not intended to do anything of the sort; hor Interest in public affairs was still bounded by Noal's participation participa-tion In them; and Neal, who had been a figure of Importance today, would have no part in the morrow's proceedings. But It was evident that Mrs. Hammel expected her to return to the Capitol the next day; and Mrs. Hammel should never be disappointed In her. Her determination was rewarded. When Neal came home that night, he gave her a beautifully engraved little card, upon the back of which she discovered the number, row and section of a reserved seat Armed with this, she penetrated the house of representatives without difficulty ; and, having found her appointed place, she saw that Mrs. Hammel, Mrs. Hastings and several other women whom she knew, were all near her, and when Mrs. Shaw, accompanied ac-companied by a military aide, came In and sat down immediately in front of her, she experienced an unexpected unexpect-ed thrill In being presented to the first lady of the land. When the President began to speak, Anne's sense of stimulation increased She listened with rapt attention. Suddenly she realized that her attention at-tention had begun to wander, perhaps per-haps because she was hungry. She was relieved when the President stopped reading and Inclined his head to acknowledge the applause of his listeners. Mrs. Shaw, bowing bow-ing graciously in every direction, was preparing to leave the gallery; and Mrs. Hammel, touching Anne's arm, was asking her a question. "You are coming over to the luncheon, of course?" "The luncheon?" "Yes the senate ladies' luncheon. Don't tell me there Is another thing you haven't heard about ! Well, I will explain as we go over in the subway. We will say good-by to Mrs. Hastings here. They don't come with us." Breathlessly, Anne followed Mrs. Hammel through the crowd to the basement of the Capitol, and into a small open electric car. The little car leaped forward, and they bounded bound-ed noisily away. By raising her voice Mrs. Hammel succeeded in making Anne hear above the clatter. "Every Tuesday. Marble room In the senate office building. Take turns acting as hostesses. Six at a time. Cold meat, salad, rolls, coffee, cake, no more. Can't have competition compe-tition in menus. I'm the president. Great fun. You'll see. Here we are. Get out." The marble room proved a most imposing apartment Down Its wide length ran a long narrow table, covered cov-ered with a white cloth. Thermos bottles, plates of rolls and jelly, and large heavily frosted cakes were placed upon this at regular Intervals Inter-vals ; and several well-dressed women wom-en were fluttering about It, pouring water and straightening silverware. There was a good deal of informal merriment a much pleasanter medium me-dium for getting acquainted, Anne reflected, this luncheon, than those stiff, brief calls. A few of the women she had met already. They welcomed her cordially and presented pre-sented her to others. When the rich, moist cakes had been eaten from the same dishes on which the meat and salad had been served Mrs. Hammel rose in her place at the end of the long table, and announced an-nounced the names of the hostesses for the following week Mrs. Bean, Mrs. Brainard, Miss Bullard, Mrs.. Clay, Mrs. Conrad. Anne found herself carried off for a conference. A salad, it was decided, was to be her contribution. The merry little party broke up when the deliberations of the committee com-mittee were finished. ' I The morning after the senate ladies' la-dies' luncheon, Mrs. Lee called Anne on the telephone, and inquired in-quired if she might not stop and take her to the Congressional cluD reception on Friday. "You have had an Invitation to join, of course?" "Yes-but you see I have been so busy making diplomatic calls "I know-it is hard to wedge both the calls and the clubs in the same afternoon. But everything Is over at the club a little after five, and that leaves almost another hour for calls afterwards. If you are pretty well caught up couldn't you manage somehow?" T -I believe I could; especial y as I would love to go to the club with vou," Anne said frankly. 7 T am so glad, for I would love, to ake you," responded Mrs. Lee coidially. "Promptly at 2:45 then" in her eagerness to be prompt, Anne was standing on the steps of her house, watching the street In both directions when Mrs. Lee drove up ; and as she took her place beside be-side the older woman in the big limousine, Mrs. Lee regarded her with covert but thorough approbation. approba-tion. Anne had on a dress and coat 0 sapphire blue velvet, with close-nttlng close-nttlng collar and cuffs of ermine-, and her sapphire blue velvet was faced with white satin. Her white gloves, her suede shoes, and the beaded bag which she carried were all perfectly in keeping. "Usually we have a program on Friday afternoons," Mrs. Lee explained, ex-plained, "a concert or a lecture, or something like that; then a short reception afterwards. But as this Is our first gathering of the season, the afternoon is entirely given over to the reception It Is so pleasant, Isn't it, to have this meeting place for seeing our friends?" The crowd suddenly surged forward, for-ward, bearing Mrs. Lee and Anne with it up the stairs, and into the great oval room at the top. At the front end of the room, the Marine Ma-rine band, gorgeous in the scarlet, gold and blue of full dress uniform, was playing. In a little dining room beyond, an enormous basket of American Beauty roses towered between two silver candelabra, on a table spread with a lace cloth and covered with delicacies. Mrs. Hastings Hast-ings sat at one end pouring tea and Mrs. Lassiter at the other pouring coffee; they both greeted Anne cordially, cor-dially, and Mrs. Lassiter detained her for a moment. "My son and I were sorry to miss you when we called yesterday," she said. "Have you and Senator Conrad, Con-rad, by any miracle, a free evening next week or the week after? We would like so much to have you dine with us" "We would be glad to come any evening," said Anne with her accustomed accus-tomed frankness. "You are the first person who has asked us to dinner." "What a neglected opportunity !" murmured Mrs. Lassiter, "but lt won't last long. Next winter we will have to speak for you months ahead. Meanwhile, I will get In touch with you again, very shortly, Mrs. Conrad." Mrs. Lee seemed as pleased as Anne herself at the Invitation, and she told Anne something about the Lassiters as they drove away. Mrs. Lassiter was a wealthy widow, It seemed, and acted as hostess for her son, who was unmarried, and the greatest '.'catch" in the senatorial circle. "You made quite an impression impres-sion on him at the opening of congress. con-gress. He asked who you were immediately im-mediately after he saw you in the gallery, and has told several people he thought you were the prettiest woman there." The promised dinner Invitation was delivered by hand before Neal and Anne had finished their own supper that night. Mrs. Lassiter requests the pleasure of Senator and Mrs. Conrad's company at dinner on Wednesday evening December the 14th at eight o'clock. 2141 Massachusetts Avenue. "Less than a week offl" exclaimed ex-claimed Anne. "Oh, Neal, what shall 1 wear?" Neal laughed. "What a question for a woman who has Just got back from Paris I Your clothes are lovely love-ly Anne, you know they are, and yo'u mustn't try to save them. When the ones you have now begin to get shabby you must have some more. I think that white velvet with the glittery trimming rhinestone do you call it? is about the best and I guess you better wear the best." "It is going to be hard, Neal, driving driv-ing a car in evening clothes." "I know I do wish we could afford af-ford more help. Dora must stop doing the washing, that's certain. You must send it out, Anne, or get a woman to come in and help with it and to get supper the nights Dora goes out." "We can't afford it," Anne object- 6(3 v "We have got to afford it," Neal retorted resolutely. "Thank goodness good-ness this is a short session! Ill be back in Hinsboro the fifth of March, digging away for dear life No vacation for me this summer! My poor old clients will have to cough up enough for us to live on decently here, since the government won't, and next winter we will be doing things right In the meantime, mean-time, we will have to find some kind of temporary solution." The solution presented itself in an unexpected, not to say start! ng manner. When Anne returned from her round of calls the following afternoon aft-ernoon she drew back in alarm before be-fore a muddled figure winch was crouched on her front steps, in an attitude of deepest dejection At her startled exclamation, the figure unfolded itself and stood up-a tend a furnace and put on a white coat and open the door?" "Ah'm willing to do anythln'," said the man with pathetic eagerness. "Are. you are you white? It is so dark I can't see. I've had my maid a long time, and I don't know how she would feel about a colored man in the house," said Anne with slight confusion. "That's all right, ma'am, ah don't mind your askin'. Yes,-ah'm white all right. 'Pore white trash' you'd call me ah reckon. Ah come from the mountings, Kentucky ah seen your hiSsd girl. She's powerful pert lookin'. Ah'd be pleased to help her any ways ah could. Ah can cook, too, real good." "What's your name?" demanded Anne. "Delancy. Mah first name's Hod Horace." "Well, Horace Delancy, if I get you the clothes you need and feed you, will you come to me for thirty dollars a month? Until you have proved you are worth more? There's a little bit of a dark room In the rear of the basement. I'm ashamed to ask anyone to sleep in It, but If you" "Oh, marm," exclaimed Horace Delancy, "oh, lady 1" Be pitched suddenly forward. Anne caught him, supported him. Neal swung suddenly Into sight around the corner of the street and ran towards the house. "This is our new chauffeur," said Anne calmly, "an answer to prayer. He just fainted away because, I expect ex-pect it's some time since he had a square meal; but he is going to be another household treasure just like Dora." Horace Delancy, warm, fed, bathed, shaved and clad in neat whipcord, drove Anne and Neal to their dinner din-ner at the Lassiters the following Wednesday evening. It was of course a crazy thing to take a man off the street like that Into one's house. Both Anne and Neal admitted it. But somehow, neither of them hesitated to do the crazy thing just the same; and Dora's harsh and suspicious comments com-ments were nullified by her kind and charitable actions. And she was repaid in kind. Horace Delancy had scarcely recovered from hl3 faint when he assumed control of the furnace. The following morning morn-ing he drove the children to school, Neal to the senate office building, and Anne to the central market; and before evening he had washed every window in the house. It wa3 not until Sunday, however, that his supreme opportunity came. Dora went out, and he served his astonished aston-ished benefactors, not the cold "pick-up" supper which Is usually associated with a religious observ- j ance of the Sabbath, but a meal In which fried chicken, corn fritters, beaten biscuit, fruit salad, and Lady Baltimore cake were a few of the more substantial offerinzs. (TO BE CONTINUED.) 1 |